


take a deep breath

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: start all over again [1]
Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: AU - Post 3x02, AU - different season three, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 02:30:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15233379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: "We cannot start over, but we can begin now, and make a new ending." - Zig ZiglarThe first in the "Take a Deep Breath" series. Inspired largely by Hawaii Five-O's "Nalowale" and Blue Bloods' "The Enemy of my Enemy."





	take a deep breath

Olivia Pope gazed unseeingly at the document before her. Abby Whelan was rather impatiently awaiting her coworker’s attention outside Olivia’s office door, but the fixer couldn’t seem to snap herself out of the trance she’d unknowingly entered forty-five minutes before. She hadn’t even noticed her longtime friend standing outside. She couldn’t focus on anything other than the thoughts constantly running through her mind without showing any sign of slowing down. 

This wasn’t the first time her thoughts had taken her away from her work at the most inopportune moment. She hadn’t been able to snap herself out of the slump she’d fallen into at any point in the last four days. In many ways, her sudden distractibility was to be expected. After all, it wasn’t every day that one found an old flame they still had rather substantial feelings for nearly bleeding out on their doorstep. Still, they had work to do, something not unknown to Olivia. It was the only reason she didn’t throw something at Abby when the redhead barged into her office without warning, effectively shocking her out of her stupor and nearly giving her a heart attack in the same moment.  
Unlike the other members of the firm, Abby wasn’t one to mince words with her friend. They’d gone through law school together, after all. There was little they’d left unsaid in the years they’d known each other. It was the reason she was the only one other than Huck who could say anything to Olivia without fear, because while Harrison and Quinn certainly wouldn’t be fired for the words that left their mouth in relation to their boss, Olivia had perfected her disapproving glare over the years. That alone was enough to terrify most. 

“I know you’ve got a lot of stuff going on, what with Jake and Huck and everything else, but you can’t check out on us right now,” her friend informed her fiercely as she settled on the sofa in front of Olivia’s desk. “We’re just starting to pick ourselves up from the White House debacle. And I know that’s not your fault, I know that, because all you did was fall in love, and you shouldn’t be punished for that, especially in today’s world, but the fact of the matter is that we cannot afford for you to be here without really being here. There’s a reason your name’s the one on the door, and it’s because the rest of us don’t know what the hell we’re doing half the time. So please, Olivia, for the sake of this firm, figure out what’s going on in your head so that you can snap out of it.” 

Before Olivia could respond to her friend’s words, Quinn stuck her head in. “Liv, we’ve got incoming,” she warned, bringing both Abby and Olivia to their feet within moments. “It’s bad.” 

Quinn wasn’t lying. The client was Admiral Vincent Harris, a man Olivia had encountered only a handful of times in all the years she’d been in Washington. He was a well-known, well-respected naval officer with an impeccable record. He didn’t look like one when Olivia and Abby rounded the corner and caught sight of him, however. In that moment, he looked like nothing more than a terrified father whose only child was missing. Olivia didn’t even hesitate before taking on the case.

“Emma, she’s at Georgetown,” Harris informed Olivia after they’d settled him in the meeting room. “She’s a sophomore, majoring in political science. She wants to be president one day.” The fond smile on his lips faded away only seconds later. “She always calls me twice a day, once in the morning and again at night. It’s a habit she got into when her mom left last year. She missed both calls yesterday. When she missed the third this morning, I called the dean. Nobody’s seen or heard from her since her evening class on Sunday.” The officer’s eyes pleadingly met hers. “I’ve made a lot of enemies over the years, Ms. Pope. There are a lot of people I’ve angered by serving my country. I know it may seem to you like this is just a case of a teenage girl looking for independence, but I’m her father. As her father, my gut is telling me there’s something very wrong. And the people I’ve gone up against in the past aren’t people I want within a hundred miles of my daughter. Please, I’m begging you, help me find her.” 

Olivia drew in a deep breath. “Admiral Harris, I’m going to need a list of every unclassified mission you’ve ever been involved with, every country you’ve ever visited, every national or religious leader you’ve ever had a difference of opinion with. If this is retaliation for something you and your men did overseas, I need to know what they’re trying to get revenge for. If it’s classified information, refer me to someone at the Pentagon that can declassify it. I’m going to do everything in my power to bring your daughter home, Admiral, but I can’t be at my best if you don’t tell me the truth.” 

The naval officer quickly nodded, accepting a pad of paper and a ballpoint pen from a nearby Quinn. “Thank you, Ms. Pope,” he said genuinely, offering a weak smile when she nodded her acknowledgement of his words. He was then left alone in silence to recall the details they needed to work the critical case they’d just been handed. 

Olivia’s phone rang a few minutes after she left the meeting room. When she glanced towards it, Jake’s name was flashing across the screen. She accepted the call without hesitation. “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” she reprimanded, her attention still partially on the article regarding Admiral Harris’s overseas involvement she’d pulled up on her computer after leaving him alone. “The doctor said you’re supposed to sleep as much as possible. It’s the only way your body will completely heal.”  


“It’s lunchtime,” he responded without pause. “Have you eaten yet?” 

“Have I eat – no, Jake, I haven’t eaten yet. I don’t eat lunch most days, which, by the way, is information you’ve been privy to for the past few months.” She clicked into another article and began reading. Just as she finished the first paragraph, however, realization struck. “Jake,” she said, knowing the man was still on the line despite the fact he’d fallen silent, “how much do you know about an Admiral Vincent Harris?” 

“Harris? Uh, not much. He graduated Annapolis with Fitz. They were pretty good friends back in the day. Why? What’s going on?” 

“Somebody may have kidnapped his daughter,” Olivia informed him. “Emma Harris attended an event at Georgetown on Sunday evening, and nobody’s seen or heard from her since. Her dad thinks something’s really wrong. She’s only nineteen, Jake.” Her voice nearly broke as she uttered that final sentence.

Jake cursed quietly under his breath. “I’m coming up there. Liv,” he interrupted before she could even begin protesting, “I know you want me to rest, but I know a lot more about this one than you do. I’m in the Navy, remember? I know which people at the Pentagon to go to, if it comes to that.” 

“Yeah, well, let’s pray it doesn’t,” Olivia responded, drawing in a deep breath. “I’m not going to talk you out of this one, am I?”

“My little sister committed suicide when she was fifteen years old, Liv. Talking me out of helping teenage girls in trouble isn’t something even you’re capable of.” Jake sighed. “I’m bringing food,” he warned her.

She let out a wry chuckle. “I would expect nothing less,” she replied dryly, bidding farewell and then ending the call with a slight smile upon her face. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she felt lighter as she set the phone back where it belonged. Then again, that seemed to happen after most conversations she and Jake had those days. 

Jake arrived half an hour later, a bag of Chinese takeout full enough to feed the entire office in tow. “What do you have?” he asked as he made his way into her office, removing several containers from the bag and placing them in front of her, along with a pair of chopsticks and a plastic fork. He then settled on the couch with his own food, his attention still entirely on her. 

“The man’s served in Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Asia,” Olivia informed him, opening her nearby container of noodles and taking a bite. “Guerilla groups are prominent almost everywhere he’s ever been, and while the governments of those nations are usually thankful for American involvement, there are plenty of citizens that aren’t.”

“Not all those citizens have resources, though,” Jake pointed out. “And a lot of them wouldn’t be willing to make a move like this. There are plenty of barbarians in the places the Navy goes, but most of them don’t blame the children of soldiers for their parents’ actions. They’d rather get their hands on someone like Harris than someone like Emma. The girl has no access to classified documents; there’s nothing they can torture out of her.” 

“Sometimes the things you say so easily make me sick to my stomach,” she informed him, placing the container of noodles back on her desk. “Especially when you say them while covered in bruises my father’s responsible for.” 

“Sorry,” he apologized genuinely. He paused for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. “What does Harris’s ex-wife do?” he asked after several seconds.

Olivia glanced towards him curiously, but typed Annette Harris’s name into her search engine anyway, sure he had a legitimate reason for asking such a seemingly random question. “She’s a prosecutor with the Henrico Country DA’s Office in Richmond,” she informed him. “Why?” 

“She have any high-profile cases at the moment?” Jake asked curiously.

Olivia returned to her typing. “None coming up within the next week, but there’s one on the books for later this month, involves human trafficking.” Olivia continued reading, realization hitting her as she skimmed the provided information. “Jake, her daughter’s the reason she took the case. A friend of hers from school came to her about a cousin being in some sort of trouble. Emma went to her mother with the information. She’s the reason Annette was able to build a case at all.” 

“Were these people even on the law’s radar before Harris began her investigation?” Jake questioned.

Olivia shook her head. “Not according to this. Vice was approached a few years back by someone labeling the group as ‘suspicious,’ but they didn’t find anything when they investigated. SVU looked into it a few years back, same thing. Intelligence caught the case after Annette took it to Richmond PD. They had enough information to kick down the front door six weeks later.” 

“This girl helped take down a human trafficker, and yet this is the first I’ve heard of her. How is that possible? More importantly, why is she the one these guys are going after? It’s her friend that’s the prosecution’s key witness, not her. What do they have to gain from a move like this?” Jake asked, his tone frustrated. 

“Emma was just shy of eighteen when this all went down. She was still a minor. It took them awhile to track down the leader. As for the other thing, there are two reasons I can think of off the top of my head. You kidnap the prosecutor’s kid, there’s a higher chance of her being removed from the case,” Olivia pointed out.

“Annette Harris has built this case from the group up. Someone starting fresh wouldn’t stand a chance,” Jake replied. 

“Yeah. Also, Emma’s father has a higher profile than her mother when it comes to his career. His kid shows up missing, nobody’s going to look into his ex-wife’s work. We proved that.” Olivia sighed. “It could still be someone he’s happened across, you know.”

“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “All this means is that our pool of suspects has likely quadrupled.” 

“Lovely,” Olivia muttered under her breath. She stood from her chair and headed for the door, pulling it open and sticking her head out. “Everyone, my office, now!” she yelled, causing everyone other than Huck to come running. This time, however, it was less because he was avoiding her and more because he was preparing to hack into the Pentagon if it came to that. 

She quickly explained to Harrison, Abby, and Quinn what she and Jake had discovered. It took them several moments to absorb the information. Once they had, Quinn was the first to speak. “Both her parents have enemies willing to do whatever it takes to get their way,” she said slowly. “The only problem is that some of them are located here and others are located on the other side of the globe. How do we know who we’re supposed to be chasing?”

“Have Huck look into the enrollment at Georgetown, see if there’s anyone there with ties to the wrong side of this human-trafficking organization,” Olivia told her coworker, causing the woman to nod quickly and rush to do as told. “Abby, can you call the Dean, see if he knows anything about any students who have recently arrived from anywhere the admiral’s been stationed in the past decade? Perhaps students whose families have ties to political leaders Harris hasn’t gotten along with?”

“Of course,” Abby agreed immediately. 

“Thank you. Harrison, I need you to get over to Georgetown and talk to anyone and everyone who said so much as ‘hello’ to Emma Harris on Sunday night. Grill them until they’ve told you everything they know.” 

“Got it,” Harrison responded, heading towards his office to retrieve his phone and keys. 

She turned to Jake. “You have ties to Richmond, don’t you?” she asked, seeming to recall him sharing that information in the earlier stages of their relationship.

“My mother does,” Jake told her. “I was raised in Indiana.” He sighed when she looked at him expectantly. “I’ll go make some calls,” he said begrudgingly. “Just so you’re aware, though, the Ballard name isn’t nearly as popular as the Martin one in Ma’s hometown. I might not be able to get anyone to talk to me.”

“There’s an innocent girl missing, Jake. They’ll talk to you,” Olivia replied assuredly. 

“You’re underestimating how much the people of that town hated my father,” Jake informed her. 

“Is it more than you hated your father?” Olivia questioned.

“Hate. Present-tense. He drove my sister to hang herself in our backyard. My hatred of him has been constant ever since, like the speed of light. Which is not a conversation to be had right now. You have things to do, and… where are you going?” Jake called after her as she headed towards the door. 

“To bug the leader of the free world into giving me access to the information I need,” she responded easily, causing Jake to shake his head. “What? We ended on good terms. Okay, maybe not on good terms,” she conceded when he eyed her dubiously, “but at least on civil ones. Plus, Naomi’s in town. He’s in a great mood. It’s all over the news.” 

“Of course he is. Naomi’s in town!” Jake called after her, amusement in his words. She smiled slightly as she closed the door behind her.

 

\----

 

“He’ll see you now,” Lauren told her kindly, gesturing towards the closed door of the Oval Office. 

Olivia nodded, drawing in a deep breath and lifting her purse from the seat next to her. She and Fitz hadn’t seen each other since their conversation in the bunker, which, admittedly, hadn’t ended the way either of them had expected. The smile on his face as she walked into the room and caught sight of him deep in conversation with the psychologist seated on his sofa suggested it was best for both of them it hadn’t. 

Fitz glanced towards her as the door closed behind her, fond smile still in place. “Olivia, you know Naomi,” he said, gesturing towards the woman across the room. 

“Of course I do,” Olivia responded, smiling kindly towards the other woman. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Naomi responded unguardedly. That was the one way in which she differed from the rest of them; she had no problem being open. “How’s Jake? He’s staying with you, right?”  
There was no ulterior motive in the woman’s words; she simply wanted to know the whereabouts of the man she considered a brother. 

“He is, yeah. His place isn’t exactly the safest at the moment. He’s helping me with a case right now, which is why I came here.” She drew in a deep breath and then glanced towards Fitz. “Admiral Vincent Harris’s daughter was kidnapped at some point between Sunday and Monday.”

“Oh, my God,” Naomi murmured behind her. “Does it have something to do with his work?”

“We don’t know,” Olivia responded, turning towards the other woman and then redirecting her attention towards Fitz. “Harris came to us because he assumes it does, but Jake and I looked into his ex-wife. She’s currently working a high-profile human-trafficking case in Henrico County. Emma introduced her mother to the prosecution’s primary witness.” 

“Which means the members of that organization not behind bars also have motive. You get the prosecutor to step down, you risk a mistrial, maybe the leader gets out scot-free.” Fitz shook his head. “Vince is a friend. I’ll help in whatever way you need me to. What is it you need?” 

“Jake’s making some calls to his mother’s sources in Richmond. If he can’t get anywhere, I might need you to convince the governor to force the release of information we can’t get from the media.” She shrugged apologetically when Fitz’s eyes widened slightly. “I know it’s a lot to ask. It’s an election year, and the governor’s support is needed. If I need to find another way…”

“I was at that girl’s first birthday party. If it comes between losing her or losing the election, the choice is already made. Just let me know,” Fitz told her.  
“Of course,” she replied without hesitation. “Naomi,” she said in farewell, turning towards the other woman and smiling when she simply lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers in Liv’s direction. It was easy to see why both Jake and Fitz had taken to her so quickly all those years ago, even if they’d taken to her in vastly different ways. She really was quite adorable most of the time. 

Jake was awaiting her when she returned to the office, a triumphant smile on his face. “According to the ADA, the ringleader is Alexandra Chen. She took over from her father a decade ago. She’s the one Harris is prosecuting.” He extended a notepad in her direction, and she quickly read over his notes as he continued. “Most members of law enforcement refer to her as ‘the Barbarian.’ She’s not above extortion, torture, kidnapping. One of the main reasons the cops have been going so hard to take her down is because she’s tied to the murders of two of their own.” 

“So she’s not just our regular, run-of-the-mill monster, she’s also a kidnapping cop-killer. Great,” Olivia muttered under her breath. 

“It’s more than that. Huck came through with the student information. A few weeks back, Claire Chen enrolled in an eight-week course in Psychology. Claire is Alexandra’s sister. That’s not the information you need, though. The course is still being given at Georgetown. Guess who else is taking it?” 

“Emma Harris,” Olivia said definitively. 

Jake nodded. “Yeah. The Dean didn’t come up with anything. I’ve been helping Huck look into the Admiral’s enemies. None of them have the ability to pull something like this off. If it were someone he’d crossed paths with…”

“They’d have made demands already,” Olivia finished, causing him to nod again. “The fact that they haven’t suggests that the people who have Emma don’t want anything from the admiral. They simply want his ex-wife to step down from the case, causing a mistrial in the process. Best way to do that is to threaten the most important person in her life.”  
“If she does that, Chen walks free,” Jake informed her.

“That may be true. If she doesn’t, though, her only child will most definitely be killed.” Olivia drew in a deep breath as Jake huffed a sigh and shook his head. “Jake, I will help the DA rebuild this case from the ground up if it comes to that. But if it’s between her child and her career, I know which Annette Harris is going to choose.” 

“Yeah, well, maybe we can find her before it comes to that,” Jake replied, his eyes so full of hope that Olivia couldn’t bring herself to crush it by telling him the chances of that happening weren’t high. “Claire Chen isn’t her sister. If she’s the one responsible for this, she might’ve left behind clues.” 

“And if Alexandra sent one of her enforcers, we’ll never find a trace.” Olivia shook her head. “We should just wait for Harrison to get back from the campus. Maybe someone saw something.” 

“Well, we can pray, at least,” Jake replied dryly.

Harrison returned five minutes later and barged into Olivia’s office without so much as knocking. “Claire Chen doesn’t live on campus,” he informed them, causing both Olivia and Jake to shoot to their feet. “She rents an apartment in Logan Circle.” 

“Let’s go,” Olivia said, reaching for her purse.

“You want to go there yourself? That doesn’t seem like a stupid idea to you?” Jake questioned incredulously. 

“You have more training than twenty Navy SEALs and you’re a better shot than even Huck is,” Olivia informed him. “I would never agree to this in a normal situation, considering your current condition, but this isn’t a normal situation. If we call the cops in on this one, they’ll get her killed before anyone can even attempt to reason with them.” 

“Fine,” Jake sighed. “I knew there was a reason I brought those smoke grenades into the office.” 

“There are smoke grenades in my – you know what, never mind. I don’t really want to know.” Olivia drew in a deep breath and prayed they were doing the right thing.

 

\----

For extremely successful gangbangers, Chen’s men were almost hilariously idiotic. Despite his injured state, it took Jake only fifteen seconds to incapacitate all four of them. By the time they came back around, Metro PD had arrived, and Emma Harris was seated in between her parents on Olivia’s sofa back at OPA. 

Olivia walked through the door and immediately caught sight of Jake. He was leaning against the wall, his eyes focused on the reunion happening in front of him. He offered her a slight smile when he saw her, moving over slightly so she could come to stand beside him. 

She leaned next to him, nudging him slightly with her elbow. “You helped make that possible, you know,” she murmured, nodding towards the family in front of them. “I would’ve been led in the wrong direction if you hadn’t been here. You saved that girl.” 

“Yeah, well, I had to at least try,” Jake responded, his eyes full of memories Olivia knew nothing about.

“Jake, I don’t know what happened between your family. I don’t know what drove your sister to do what she did. But it wasn’t your fault. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life making up for it. I guarantee she wouldn’t want you to.” Olivia took his hand in hers for a moment, squeezing his fingers lightly. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

He shook his head. “I’m not ready for my past to ruin what’s happening right now,” he admitted quietly. 

“You are not responsible for the decisions your father made, Jake. No one knows that better than me.” She shook her head when he refused to meet her eyes. “Hey. Will you take me to dinner? That Chinese didn’t really stick around long, and I’m absolutely starving. You know a place?” 

Jake hesitated for a moment before turning towards her, a serious expression on his face. He scoffed quietly. “What are we even doing at this point, Liv?” he asked quietly.

“I have no idea,” she replied honestly. “But I know enough to know I want to figure it out.” 

He nodded once. “I do.”

“You do what?” she asked confusedly, still struggling to catch up after the conversation’s sudden turn. 

“I know a place,” he elaborated. “Cate’s. It’s my cousin’s place. Good food, no cameras. The kind of place right up your alley.” 

“Well,” Olivia said, glancing around the office. The Harris family was gone, as was the rest of the team. They had no more clients to look in on. “I’m ready if you are.”

Somehow, they both knew she was talking about something much more important than dinner. They didn’t acknowledge it, though. They’d have time for that later. If all went right, they’d have all the time in the world.


End file.
